St. Petersburg, Russia - We have spent decades witnessing an almost unanimous position at the UN General Assembly calling for the lifting of the US blockade against Cuba, stated former president of the 73rd session of that body, Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces.

We see it as a threat to the development rights of Cuba and its self-determination, the former Ecuadorian Foreign minister told Prensa Latina, shortly after her intervention at the 4th Russia-Ibero-America Forum, held in this northern Russian city.

This issue has a long history in the UN, of an almost unanimous expression of rejection from member States, and has also been very present in the positions and in the public discourse of US foreign policy, affirmed the official.

That is why I referred to the issue in my speech, as the blockade has been present in the speeches by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, she stressed.

Responding to another question from this agency, Espinosa Garces affirmed that while the West attempts to impose its will on the world, international law is capable of uniting the Russian Federation in its dialogue with Latin America and the Caribbean.

It is about defending the deep committment to international law and the fulfillment of the international commitments we assume and, in the case of the United Nations, those related to its Charter, assured the Ecuadorian politician.